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The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. In a fresh, authoritative version, this stirring tale comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, Wilson’s engrossing translation matches the number of lines in the Greek original, thus striding at Homer’s sprightly pace.

Emily Wilson will discuss her approach to translating the Odyssey into English verse, exploring her formal, poetic, literary and interpretative choices. She will include reading from her translation, and would be delighted to answer questions from the audience.

This program is sponsored by Jim and Genie Murphy.

About the speaker

Emily Wilson is the first woman to translate Homer’s Odyssey into English and a professor of Classical Studies and chair of the Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Mocked to Death: Tragic Overliving from Sophocles to Milton (2004), The Death of Socrates: Hero, Villain, Chatterbox, Saint (2007), and The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca (2014), as well as the translator of Six Tragedies of Seneca (2010) and four plays by Euripides (The Greek Plays, 2016).

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A series of informal, intimate talks given by literary and cultural luminaries, In Conversation with the Rosenbach delves into fascinating histories, intellectual curiosities, and inspiring ideas. Each program offers the audience a chance to join the conversation after the talk and share their own thoughts and questions. In Conversation with the Rosenbach is supported by grants from the Walter J. Miller Trust and the Christian R. & Mary F. Lindback Foundation.